Caitanya Vaisnava Philosopher Jiva Gosvami And His Philosophy In Tattvasandarbha

The Caitanya vaisn ava sampradaya was a bhakti sect in Gauda region of Bengal in the 16th century,which inherited the philosophy and religious tradition of Hinduism and developed a unique bhakti practice and theology through the unremitting efforts of the early philosophers represented by Six Gosvami.The main object of this paper is Jiva,who is the most remarkable one of the Six Gosvami and his representative work Sadsandarbha.First of all,this research systematically sorted out and reorganized the relevant Sanskrit materials and biographies of Jiva,then analyzed the contradictions therein to reconstruct the life course of this philosopher comprehensively.Jiva made essential contributions to the development of the sect,which can be summarized as follows:first,he systematically constructed the theology and philosophy of Caitanya vaisn avism through his philosophy and literary creation.Second,he systematically revised and properly preserved many rare works and manuscripts to keep them handed down.Thirdly,by strengthening the connection with the emperor Akbar,he inherited and managed the temple of the sect and added new properties,so that the sects achieved significant development in this period.Fourthly,it has cultivated a group of influential disciples represented by Srinivasa Acarya,Narottamadasa and Syamananda,which made an essential contribution to the spread of the Caitanya theology.Moreover,this research systematically summarized the existing works of Jiva and sorted out the preservation of Sanskrit manuscripts.Finally illustrated his theological and philosophical thoughts by taking the first volume of his philosophical masterpiece Sadsandarbha,Tattvasandarbha,as a case study.Tattvasandarbha illuminates the theme,structure,and main content of the rest volumes,and also embodies three theological thoughts of Jiva:First,the epistemology and puranas theology of Jiva,who,through a critical analysis of the ten praman a,established the Bhagavad-puran a as the supreme pramana from an epistemological point of view;Second,the "acintya-bhedabheda" theory,by analyzing the nature of the jiva and the bhagavan,Jiva makes clear that unity and difference exist between the two simultaneously,and only the incomprehensive and incredible power of the bhagavad can make this happen;Third,the moksa theory of Jiva,which states that the ultimate goal of life is the love for bhagavan,that is,Lord Krsna,where believers should focus only on serving the Lord faithfully,rather than pursuing traditional Hindu goals.